A Rose by any other name
by eos9
Summary: Post-DH; epilogue compliant; HP/GW & implied HG/RW; For everyone who raised an eyebrow at the bizarre name choices for Harry's children, and especially for those who wondered if Ginny had any say in the matter.
1. Pig

_"Harry Potter!"_ Harry and Ron turned to watch an irate Hermione Granger-Weasley storm past the Auror Office cubicles, trampling through the detritus of last night's pizza run. Their lunch-break sandwiches were held limply in their hands, forgotten, as Hermione's frazzled hair literally crackled with energy. One bushy tress passed by a wizarding wireless and Harry could have sworn he saw sparks actually fly before the machine shorted out in a loud _"pop!"_ of sizzling static.

Filled with a sudden, ominous desperation, he turned quickly to his partner and urged, "_C'mon_ Ron! Distract her!"

Ron looked at Harry incredulously, "Sorry mate. More than my life's worth, that is. Last time she shorted out a wireless was back when I accidentally put Crooks in with the wash."

Both men took a moment to shudder. By this point, the vengeful electromagnetic deity was nearly upon them, and Ron chose the better part of valour by scarpering out of the Auror Office with his half-eaten sarney in tow.

Harry ran his sandwich-free hand through his hair and followed up with a nervous shove to the bridge of his glasses.

"Erm... hi Hermione. How's things in Creatures today?"

She was almost vibrating with righteous indignation, and Harry was certain now that those were indeed sparks flying from her infamous mane.

"Don't you _"Hi"_ me, Harry James Potter! Do you _know_ what I've just been doing?"

Harry wanted to ask if the escalating screeching were an indication of having been practicing Mermish, but after a wayward spark singed his robes, only managed a strangled, _"Meep?"_

"_I've_ just been having lunch with _your wife_. Your _pregnant_ wife. You remember her, don't you Harry? The woman whose very promising career your misogynist pig-headed self ruined—"

"She quit the Harpies a year ago! She said she couldn't go another day dealing with..." Harry trailed off realising that now was perhaps not the most opportune time to mention Gin's personal nemisis, 'broom hair'. Luckily, Hermione didn't notice as she was already in with the next accusation.

"The woman who _selflessly_ abandoned the name she was born with to meet your antiquated, macho—"

"Hey! She was the one who said there were already too many Weasleys in the world and it was time to start repopulating the place with Potters!"

Hermione would not be deterred, "The woman who—due to _your sperm_—" she punctuated the last two words with vicious pokes to his chest.

"It's not like they got there on their own, you know," Harry muttered mulishly.

She continued without a break, "—is now facing _months_ of anguish,-"

Harry couldn't really argue there. He'd already heard quite a bit on the subject from the lady herself during the first two months, and nothing says "keep it in your pants forevermore or else" like getting decked after the third round of morning sickness.

"—only to be _told_ that she won't even have a _say_ in her _own child's name_! How could you, Harry?"

At this point Hermione gave up with the finger stabbing and gave him a two-handed shove—hard. And then she grabbed his sandwich out of his hand and threw it in his face. He interjected when he saw her looking around his desk for other things to pelt him with.

"Hermione..."

He dodged a crumpled violet interoffice memo.

"Hermione!"

A pencil missed his ear and embedded in the cubicle wall behind him.

_"Hermione!"_

"What Harry? What? What do you have to say for yourself, you big... big... Urgh! You _man_, you!"

He grabbed her wrists and rescued his favourite coffee cup from certain death-by-smashing and looked her calmly in the eyes.

"Hermione, Ginny named an owl, "Pig".

...

...

...

Hermione was still breathing heavily, sparks trailing into dusty cinders on the floor.

"A tiny owl, Hermione. _"Pig"._ We'd be better off asking Luna to name the baby than letting Gin have a go at it."

An inelegant snort drifted up from the mass of gradually deflating hair that hid Hermione's face as she came down from what Ron had secretly dubbed "the beast high".

"And don't forget "Arnold the Purple Pygmy Puff". Seriously, Hermione—would _you_ let her pick your kids' names? Even a middle name?"

Hermione raised her flushed face and gave a sheepish grin. "I guess honouring the dead through baby names isn't so bad in that context. Then again, you could ask the godmother for help..."

Now it was Harry's turn to snort. "Hermione, I love you, but you'd probably name the boy "Charles Richard Andrew", or something like that."

"Hey! What's wrong with those names! They're... wait a minute—_you!"_

She punched him in the arm.

_"Ow!"_

"I'm never going to live down Spew, am I?

Harry put an arm around her now slightly dejected and slumped shoulders.

"Nope!" he grinned cheerfully. "But at least you've finally learned to pronounce it right."

She turned and smiled at him, before her eyes suddenly grew round as saucers.

"Hold on... did you say... _"boy"?"_

Harry's grin stretched so wide it nearly split his face in half.

"Yup—a son." He radiated manly pride. "Didn't she tell you?"

Hermione's trademark mega-watt special beaming smile quickly switched back to her earlier sheepish grin.

"Erm, I may have, sort of..."she mumbled the next part rapidly, "jumped up and left her at the caf before she got a chance to."

Harry chuckled, "Well, at least you didn't abandon my pregnant wife during a meal with no explanation just to check the library, but instead for something really important... like yelling at me."

Hermione's grin turned sly and she stuck her chin in the air. "I'm sure she'd agree."

They both laughed and Harry started leading her out into the main corridor of the DMLE, looking for wherever Ron had made his escape to.

"So tell me, Hermione, when are you and Ron going to make a godmother out of She-who-should-not-be-allowed-to-name?"

Hermione gave him an incredulous look, one not too dissimilar to the look he'd received from Ron earlier, Harry noted.

"Are you kidding me? Did you not hear the part about _months_ of anguish? Why on earth would I want to put myself through _that_?"

"So that all of us can look forward to a lifetime of taking the piss out of little Sarah Harriet Rosalind Elizabeth for the rest of her untamed life?"

By the time Hermione had processed what he had said and the various implications therein, Harry was already halfway to the lifts, his ringing laughter echoing back to her frustrated war cry.

"AAAAaaaarrrrgggghh!"

He looked back at her and smirked. Hermione's hair was starting to shoot off again like a party sparkler. He'd have to plan something really big to wind her up with for the next Guy Fawkes night.

...he'd just have to make sure she was already next to the bonfire, first.

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**AN:** Harry's not always one with the snappy comebacks (though he's had his moments), but I can just picture him during his quiet brooding times thinking up inappropriate acronyms for Hermione's kids... and then his own. ;-)

Well, there it is- my first completed fiction story ever. If you have any suggestions or tips for improving my tone, voice, rhythm, or anything else in this or my other stories, I'd be much obliged. Thanks!

PS- A very big thank you to Moonlit Lightning whose advice helped me clean this up and paved the way for a better foundation in the stories I've posted since. I really appreciate it!


	2. Turn about is fair play

"What do you mean, I can't name him 'James Sirius'?"

"We've been over this, Harry. He's the heir. Hello? William Arthur? Draco Lucius? Albus Percival? And... knock-knock... did you forget—'Harry James'? He has to have your name as his second name to indicate his status."

Ginny shook her head in amazement while Harry crossed his arms stubbornly.

"Well, 'James Harry' is stupid. I know, let's start a tradition of just reversing names each generation! It's so economical and time-saving."

"What about 'Sirius Harry'?" She may have agreed to let him choose the first name, but she wasn't giving up easily about the second name, particularly when the entire wizarding world and its traditions were on her side.

"Do you really want to open up the "Seriously Hairy" can of worms? With _this_ hair? Are you kidding? The whole point of going the 'honour-the-dead' route was to avoid early childhood trauma."

Hermione thought it was time to participate in the debate. "Well, he could end up with messy _ginger_ hair. You never know."

"Thanks, Hermy. I'll be sure to give you a special hairbrush for dealing with _bushy_ ginger hair when little Sarah Harriet Rosalind..."

"Alright! Alright already. Fine—you win... this round." She still hadn't forgiven him for the acronym quips the other day, and certainly didn't appreciate him bringing them up again. "Anyway, back to the subject at hand, as the unofficial Black head of house, you should probably stick with a constellation, regardless."

"No way! If Ron hadn't laughed because 'Draco' was such a lame name, the kid bearing said name wouldn't have acted like a git, and we might have ended up friends, which possibly could have finished the whole bloody war before it even started. That's what we're dealing with here! All it takes is one crappy name, and suddenly there's a new dark lord on the loose and another headmaster falling off a tower."

"Erm... okay..." Ginny started to scoot to the opposite end of the settee from her now slightly deranged husband.

Hermione bravely continued the fight, "Look, there's got to be at least one constellation or galaxy that's okay."

Harry gave her a baleful stare. "Why don't we just name the poor kid 'Uranus' and have done with it? Ron got loads of mileage out of that one in Divination, and there's always midnight Astronomy for the kids who don't take the soft option."

Hermione threw up her arms in frustration. "Okay! I get it! No space names—fine. But that doesn't change the fact that your firstborn son has to have his father's first name as a second name, just like the firstborn daughter has her mother's first name as a second name."

He raised an eyebrow at Ginny. She raised her hand.

"'Ginevra Molly', at your service. I'm sorry, Harry—it's just the way things are done."

"But the kid won't be a pureblood! Hell, _I'm_ not even a pureblood!"

Hermione hated 'logic-lapse' more than hypocrisy, but the two combined really got her goat. "And yet, your own name follows the tradition! Ergh! You're being so frustrating!"

"Well maybe if you hadn't shared that wonderful little tidbit yesterday, I'd be more open to it, but right now as far as I'm concerned the matter is closed."

Ginny gave Hermione a completely befuddled look. Hermione sighed in resignation but then started to giggle.

"I told him about the St. Mungo's report. You know—the one saying that 50% of all boys born since the war have been named 'Harry' and 20% of all girls have been named," Hermione paused and looked pointedly at Harry, "...'Harriet'."

Ginny fought valiantly as her mouth tried to quirk upwards, but she quickly lost the struggle to stay composed for her husband's sake and joined Hermione in uncontrolled titters. Harry groaned.

After a bit of (very adult, thank you very much) giggling, Hermione got hold of herself.

"Well, you shouldn't let them spoil it for you. It was yours first, after all. Besides, what's one more Harry?" More laughter.

"That's what I said about Ginny keeping the Weasley name, and what did you say, Gin? Something about identity, and uniqueness, and avoiding confusion?" Ginny abruptly stopped laughing and glared at her husband as he continued.

"I just don't get why it's happened this time, and not before," Harry pouted (in a very manly way, of course).

Even after all these years, Ginny knew how to handle a sulky Potter better than a manic one. "After the first war, you were still a baby, and people thought it would be disrespectful, and yes—confusing. You may not have noticed it, but the only kids at Hogwarts named 'Harold' were all older than you, and not one of them went by "Harry". In fact, I bet if any of those older kids had actually been named 'Harry' to start out with, their parents probably changed it over to Harold by '82."

Harry snorted. "Well I still think it's rubbish to stick _any_ kid with my name, but especially my kid. It's bad enough that he'll have to deal with having a "famous" father. I don't want to draw any more attention to it. If 'Harry' isn't in his name, then maybe he'll have a better chance at passing himself off as a distant cousin once he wants to rebel and get away from it all. Merlin knows there are plenty of days I wish _I_ could."

Hermione tried again. "Fine, Harry, but you have to figure out a way to honour the tradition without "space names", and without using 'Harry' or 'Harold'. What about Harrison?"

Harry had no intention of budging. "No surnames as first names."

She huffed. "Okay then... what about an older root form of 'Harry'? The Black Family Tree has a 'Charlus Potter' on it. Maybe you can do something like that."

"'Charlus' sounds like either a weird sports injury or some dumb inbred pureblood who can't spell." He quickly turned to Ginny, who had apparently decided to patiently wait out the argument, "No offense, Honey." At her dismissive snort, he figured it was alright to finish off his response to Hermione's latest gambit. "And if we go with something like 'Harold-with-an-e-at-the-end' it's just going to make me think of Christmas carols, which is stupid."

"You're stupid!"

"No I'm not, this whole thing is stupid!"

While moments like this were endlessly reassuring to Ginny on the true state of the relationship past and present between her husband and his best female friend, these moments were also endlessly annoying.

"Children! Okay, let's just calm down and restate facts. We're going to have a boy. He's going to be the heir to the Potter line. He may be the heir to the Black line too, if the goblins ever decide to forgive you for the break-in and allow you back into the 700 level of the vaults."

"Which means never," Harry growled, still a bit surly.

Hermione shrugged. "Meh—eventually, they're going to want to see some action happen there—investments and whatnot. If they never forgive _you_, they'll probably at least forgive your son when he comes of age."

Ginny was not going to let the conversation get sidetracked again. "So... back to the heir thing. Our child's name will need to signify his status as the heir to both families..."

"And it will!" Harry had had it with this conversation. If Ginny or Hermione repeated themselves one more time, he'd go spare. It was starting to make him long for "_Hogwarts, A History"_ quotes and lectures on apparating in the castle. Time to put this to an end, once and for all.

"That's the point! James and Sirius were the last two independent heirs and heads of their families before the families got combined in me!"

Ginny and Hermione's jaws dropped at the same time as the penny. They looked at each other, then back at Harry, and gave a unison, "Oh."

He smirked. "'Oh' is right. I know it's not the way it's usually done, but considering the fact that I'm trying to honour both families with my firstborn son instead of splitting it between two kids or just ignoring the Blacks completely, _and_ considering the fact that I'm Harry Bloody Potter and have apparently already spawned a break in tradition with kids getting names outside of their family trees, not to _mention_ that it's me (again, 'Harry Bloody Potter') and no one really expects me to be normal—_ever_... well, I don't think anyone's going to make too big a fuss over all of this.

"In fact... I think the biggest fuss will turn out to have been right now from my two favourite women, and you know what that means..."

Hermione and Ginny shrieked and tried to make a break for it out of the sitting room, which was something of a feat considering Ginny's state.

"Harry James Potter! I've already got a sprog tap-dancing on my bladder! If you tickle me now, you're cleaning up the mess!" Ginny somehow managed to sound outraged in the midst of laughing and waddling. Harry never ceased to be amazed at the special magical gifts granted to a woman during pregnancy.

Hermione had already fled to the kitchen when Harry caught up his wonderful wife and stopped her struggles with a gentle kiss on her freckled nose. Looking into her bright brown eyes, he asked, "So it's all sorted then?"

She gave him a big beaming smile and nodded... before dashing off to the loo.

_James Sirius._ He wished they were here to see this, but ever since the stone he'd at least felt comforted by the idea that somehow they knew, even if they weren't there in person. Still... messy ginger hair? He shuddered. Much as he loved red-heads (and he'd loved quite a few of them in his life), there were limits. He'd have to get together with Hermione soon to see if they could find a spell or potion or something.

_Don't worry little Jamie, Auntie Hermione and I will save the day—again—don't you doubt it. I've protected your name, and you can count on me to protect your hair, too._

_._

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**AN**—Hermione discussing "no space names", and "tap-dancing" within a Ginny context are both gratefully pillaged from _**Ordinary People**_ by **inadaze22**. See my favourite stories list for a link to that fun, "Grangerverse does 'Sex in the City'" satisfying read.


	3. Gasp!

"erm... what?" Hermione squinted her eyes at Ginny in confusion.

"Albus. Severus."

"Er... sorry Ginny... I think I must be coming down with something. You know how my inner ear gets all clogged when my sinuses flare up. For some reason, I just keep hearing you say..."

"Albus. Yeah. You didn't imagine it. Albus _Severus._ You didn't imagine that either."

"Bu... but..."

"Yeah."

"But I thought..."

"Yup."

"Holy shit."

"Pretty much sums it up. He's on this kick or something. I mean, it's been years, right? But all of the sudden, he's feeling guilty again about his dad and Sirius being bullying gits, and now he thinks he can... oh Merlin... "redress the balance" or something by "honouring his mother's friend, too". Plus he was going on and on about strengthening the ties between Slytherin and Gryffindor and not perpetuating the mistakes of previous generations. Can you believe it?"

"I bet it was seeing Jamie widdle in Dominique's birthday cake. Much as I love my godson, he _is_ something of a scamp. Probably gave Harry secondary flashbacks."

"Can you _get_ flashbacks from other people's memories?"

"In the case of Harry 'rules-were-made-to-be-broken-by-my-mere-existence' Potter? Yeah. I'd put money on it, or at least I wouldn't take a punt _against_ it."

Ginny sighed. "You're probably right. Even Mum was saying the other day that Jamie has turned the terrible twos into a new artform, and she raised the twins! But Merlin, Hermione—Albus Severus! What am I going to do?"

Hermione looked at her frantic friend in sympathy and put on her metaphorical thinking cap. "Hm... Let's see... Harry won the last round because he had a well-thought-out name ready-made with lots of reasons to support his case. Maybe if we come up with a better alternative... as well as a really good explanation for why it's the best choice... then he can be convinced! What do you think?"

"Well, I can't see that I have many other options at this point. Then again, I don't even know where to start with something like this. I haven't named anyone since Arnold." Ginny glared at Hermione's giggles.

"Okay, if that's the way you wanna' play it—have you and Ron started picking names yet?"

Hermione straightened up immediately and a smile lit her face with a bright glow as she tenderly stroked her slightly-rounded baby bump. "I was thinking that maybe if it's a girl, we could name her Rose."

Ginny slumped. "See? Rose. That's a nice name. A normal name. A pretty name. No one's going to pick on a kid for being named Rose, and it'll work well when she grows up, too."

Hermione preened a bit before growing slightly sheepish. "Well, to be fair, Harry had a hand in that one. You remember that made-up name he used to tease me with? Sarah Harriet Rosalind Elizabeth? Well, I kinda _liked_ Rosalind, but have had enough Shakespeare with my own name to last a lifetime."

Ginny nodded in understanding. "Good compromise. Have you thought of a second name?"

"MmHmm... I really like the name Olivia..."

Ginny gave her a blank look. "Hermione, are you being serious?"

Puzzled and a little defensive, Hermione responded, "Well yeah—what's wrong with it? I've read that Oliver derivatives are trending and destined to be really popular in another ten years or so. That means that Olivia will be a unique name for her age group, but will appear youthful and accessible to the younger generation, once she's old enough to appreciate it."

Ginny shook her head in amazement. "Hermione, with the history you and my brother have, with the way you two _still _interact sometimes, you want to give your child initials that spell _"row"?_ As in, "Hermione and Ron are having another row... _and it's a girl?"_

Hermione's jaw dropped. "Oh. Damn. Sometimes I think Malfoy must have slipped a weird curse or potion to me in Third Year."

Ginny chuckled, "I wouldn't be surprised." She sighed again. "Thanks for the offer of help Hermione, but considering the, er... circumstances," she gave her friend another amused look, "I think I should probably ask for George to field this one. And for the love of Merlin, don't make up any more names without asking someone to check them out, first."

Hermione looked glum as she pondered the possible "evil acronym curse" that had befallen her. Looking to her equally gloomy companion though, she made an effort to pull herself together.

"Hey now—chin up! If George doesn't pull through, you can just call the boy Al, and no one has to know that his name isn't Albert. As for _Severus_," Hermione couldn't quite suppress a minor shudder of horror, "no one pays attention to second names anyway, and better to give into it now, than to get pushed into accepting it as a _first_ name for your next kid."

Both ladies shuddered this time.

Hermione continued, "Besides, now I'll get to tease _Harry_ about _his_ inappropriate acronyms! Come on—"asp"? Wasn't throwing Severus in there enough?

Ginny grunted in agreement as she hugged her massive middle protectively. "Maybe I can convince him to throw Gideon into it as well. That'll really make a statement—one that I'm pretty sure _everyone_ will agree with."

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**AN:** Here's a fun related piece of fanart that I recently came across: http [colon, double slash] julvett [dot] deviantart [dot] com [slash] gallery [slash, question mark] q=ginny [hash, slash] d19pibp


	4. This is what it feels like

**AN:** Last in the quartet. Although it has a little of the previous chapters' playfulness, this one is quite a bit more serious, and gets a progressively dramatic as it goes on.

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Ginny was exhausted. You'd think after two pregnancies she'd be an old hand at it by now, but as her mother smugly chirped every time they visited, "Each pregnancy is unique and special, dear, just like each child is unique and special." Needless to say, she hadn't been back to the Burrow in a month.

It was one of Harry's rare days off from the Auror Office where he'd recently been promoted to assistant Head. They'd packed off the boys to visit their granny (that should buy at least another week of gloating-free peace), and decided to spend a relaxing morning together, just the two of them. The problem was, Ginny just couldn't relax- it was once again that time she had come to dread. They now knew they were having their first daughter, which meant a brand-new round of the thrice-cursed name game had to be faced, and she knew it was really better to deal with it now while she was still guaranteed a few hours to weep her sorrows away before the kids returned.

She sighed, part resigned, part knackered, part apprehensive, and part grateful for the cuppa Harry had just handed her. Might as well get it over with...

"So... what have you decided to name her?"

Harry glanced up from his own cup, apparently startled at the non sequitur. His expression, however, swiftly morphed into one of moderate guilt.

"I think you should do the honours, Gin. Whatever you want. You could name her Peaches Pixie Sparkle Moondust, and I'd support you 100%."

It was Ginny's turn to look startled. She had not expected that at all. Damn. As much as the arguments over Jamie's and Al's names had irritated her, if she was really honest with herself, it had also been something of a relief to not have to be responsible for coming up with something decent. With the boys, if anyone ever made a remark (particularly about Al's name), she could just point the finger at her husband. Now, though...

Harry's discomfort grew at her shocked and somewhat worried silence, and he sheepishly ran his fingers through his hair.

"Look... you already made a point about the second name following the name of the parent, so at least that's sorted, right? Her middle name will be Ginevra and you just have to pick her first name." Seeing a growing thundercloud on his passionate (moody) wife's face, he quickly backtracked. "Or, like I said, you can name her anything you want. She can have 3 names or 5 or 10 or..."

"Not. Ginevra. I didn't mind the whole Camelot theme growing up, but at this point, the press has completely killed off any of my previous love for romantic legends. Besides, it sounds too much like Gineva, and I won't have my daughter named after some place. Especially one which has war conventions."

Ginny shuddered while Harry stifled a laugh. It had been a mistake to take teach her about popular muggle culture _before_ teaching her about muggle world history. She had really enjoyed the Star Trek convention, but it came back and bit him on the arse when he tried to explain post-WWII Europe.

"Look," he said in a valiant attempt to actually enjoy their morning in, "we don't have to decide anything right now. Why don't we just watch a film, or something. "

Ginny sighed, then shrugged somewhat despondently, "Alright, then," and got up to browse their DVD and video collection while Harry set up the telly and players. A sudden squeal caused Harry to jump and bump his head on the television cabinet shelves.

"Harry! This is it! I've found it! Our daughter's name!"

He turned around, muttering darkly as he rubbed the forming bruise on his crown, only to freeze in bewilderment at the sight of his wife brandishing the case for _The Fifth Element_ as if it was the ruddy Ten Commandments.

"Okay...?"

"Leeloo! We can name her Leeloo!

"Leeloo? As in the orange-haired alien who shoots light out of her mouth?"

"And kicks major arse." Ginny was radiant in her confidence.

Harry nodded. "And kicks arse. Fine. But... Leeloo as in L-E-E-L-O-O? Like trying to write "hello" when you're pished?"

Ginny nodded emphatically, but then tilted her head in consideration. "Well, I guess it does look a little odd. We could always do it Continental-style: L-I-L-U."

A strange expression flickered over Harry's face before it resumed the "neutral Auror" look that he'd taken to keeping as a default during all of Ginny's pregnancies.

"So basically," Harry paused, worried about broaching this, but knowing that it had to be done, "...it's "Lily", but with a 'u' instead of a 'y'."

Ginny fell back to her seat, the wind gone out of her sails at this little revelation. "Huh. You're right. Well... I don't have a problem with naming her after your mum, I guess. I mean... I suppose it fits in well enough with Jamie and Al, but... well, I _really_ like Lilu."

Harry abandoned the cables on the telly and sat down next to Ginny, wrapping his arm around her and handing her back her tea. They sat for a moment in companionable silence as they thought over the options.

Determined to remain as neutral and non-interfering as possible, Harry meekly offered, "Well... what about giving her a second name that when it's shortened and added to her first name, they can become Lilu, like a nickname?" He quickly added, "And the first name doesn't have to be Lily—it could be... I don't know, Leanne, or something like that."

Ginny nodded thoughtfully. "That's a really good idea, Harry. Not Leanne, though. Reminds me of that friend of Katie Bell's. Couldn't stand her—she was one of those whingey girls that's always determined to be helpless."

Harry chuckled and thought about how far removed that was from his own orange-haired arse-kicker.

"Really though... yeah. I like Lily, if I can just find something to go with it..."

"Well, if it's shortened to "Lil", then all you'd need is a "U".

Ginny started giggling. "Perfect, Harry! I can't wait to introduce everyone to little Lily Umbridge Potter..."

The giggle became an all-out shout of laughter as Harry decided that her comment deserved a solid sixty seconds of tickling. They were both laughing by the time she surrendered and begged for mercy.

"Alright, alright—I just can't think of a single nice 'u' name, and certainly not with anyone we know."

"Well, you can just keep the "lee" part, and the follow it up with "loo", like, you know, Louise, or something.

"I don't know, Harry. I mean, if we're going to go with Lily, then it makes sense for the Loo bit to be after someone we know, too, but the only one who has... a... name..." Ginny trailed off with a look of surprise, and turned to Harry, who proclaimed with her in unison,

"Luna."

"I've always liked Luna, but... well, unless you change your mind about this being the last, Luna would be the only living person we named one of our children after. Do you think people would be angry... or hurt?"

Ginny waved her hand dismissively. "Naw. It's not like they've named their kids after us..."

"Pfft. That's because they know better." She chuckled at her husband's suddenly sulky pout as he continued. "Besides... Gin, what about the Weasleys? I mean, this would mean that all three of my parents have been honoured. Isn't it time to honour _your_ family?"

"'Molly' and 'Fred' have already been passed onto grandkids, and it's not like we can name a girl, 'Arthur'."

"Well there's always Arthuretta. _OW!_ Merlin, woman—go easy on me! It's my day off, you know."

Ginny smirked in superiority, but then got a faraway look in her eyes. "Luna _is_ family, Harry. She was my only friend outside of my brothers, growing up. We used to do everything together. But then... then there was the diary..."

She sighed and Harry stopped pretending to be offended and instead pulled her closer as she took a deep breath and continued. There were certain topics that they just didn't talk about, but it looked like maybe the time had come for one of those boundaries to finally be crossed. Mingled with the sadness, Ginny's eyes had taken on that determined glint that he knew so well.

"We had been so excited about going to Hogwarts together. But once I had the diary, it was all I could think about. And then, we were supposed to meet on the train, but you and Ron had vanished, and Fred and George wouldn't listen, and... well... I think it was like a potions addiction, you know? I was stressed and I felt like the only thing that could make me feel better was Tom. I forgot all about Luna—didn't look for her on the train, on the boats, the sorting. And that was it—I was so wrapped up in the diary that I completely froze her out. There were times that I was aware, you know, but it was already too late, and I'd just end up writing to Tom about how I didn't know why Luna didn't want to be my friend anymore."

Harry gently stroked her hair as the tears began to fall.

"After you, after you saved me... it took a long time before things felt, well, right again. Out of all of my brothers, I had probably felt closest to Bill, so when the money came, they took us all out there."

Harry nodded, tucking her head under his chin. "I had wondered about that. It seemed pretty strange for your parents to just spend all of that money in one go."

"They wanted to get me away from everything and hoped the sunshine would help "drive away the shadows". I didn't want any of the rest of my brothers to know though, so in the end, they just decided that we would all go so that no one would complain about me getting a special trip. And it did help, at least a little. But then back at Hogwarts, I felt so lost. I mean, Tom... Tom would usually only... you know, take me over when there was no one else around, but I think I was just too young to go through something like that for such a long time. Everything in my memory from that year was completely muddled and I was having to work constantly to try to make up everything I had... missed... the previous year and to just, you know, stay on top of things."

He gave her a reassuring squeeze. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that, Gin. I should have noticed, or given the diary to Dumbledore, or... just something. And I'm sorry I wasn't much better in your second year."

She leaned up and gave him a brief, gentle kiss and then lay back against his chest.

"You had enough to be going on with, Harry. But yeah—the dementors sucked out most of the sunshine I had stocked up on in Egypt, and then I completely freaked when Sirius tried those two times to break into Gryffindor. I... I know it's stupid, but... but I was sure he was after me, that somehow Tom got a message through to his most faithful servant, and that no matter what everyone else said, that he had come to get me... to punish me." She had started crying again, and was having a hard time getting the words out. "When he... when he had... the knife... and Ron... I thought... I thought he was going to use Ron... to... to capture me..."

They sat there on the settee, the only sound Ginny's steadily quieting sobs, released after 14 years of repression, getting on with it, and having more important things to worry about. She sniffled and continued her story.

"Well, as I'm sure you can imagine, I wasn't in the headspace yet to face trying to make up with Luna. By the end of the year though, I had caught up on my work and was slowly starting to relax again. Things got a lot easier once the dementors were gone, too. So by the time we went back home, I was starting to make friends with the other Gryffs in my year. My parents tried to get me to contact Luna that summer, but I was too confused and embarrassed. So they made special arrangements for Hermione to come over so that I could have another girl to spend time with."

"That makes sense. I had wondered at the time, and now... well, I know about Hermione's situation and why she spent so little time with her parents, but the invitation had to have come from your parents, first."

Ginny nodded against Harry's chest. "They asked her for me. In third year, I finally got up the courage to find Luna and apologise, but... well, she had changed a lot. I mean, nothing was quite right again after her mum died, but... well, you know how she was treated. And she had thought that I was ignoring her at first because I was mad that we were in different houses, and..."

"Hmm...?"

She sighed. "It's my fault. She had always laughed about the Quibbler creatures and that stuff they published, but when I changed so dramatically for apparently no reason at all, and when people were mean to her for apparently no reason at all... well, she was a Ravenclaw, and determined to find the reasons. And to her 11 year old self, well... she figured that maybe it was possible that invisible problems were caused by invisible creatures, and that maybe her father wasn't so silly after all. I... I felt horrible, of course, and it was even worse because it wasn't just fixable. You can't apologise for something that a person doesn't think is bad." Ginny sighed again.

"So when did you two become friends again? You were in the compartment together the following year..."

"By the end of third year, I had realised that the only thing I could do was just accept the things she said, try not to laugh too hard, and hope that if I didn't let her down again, then maybe after a long time... well, maybe she wouldn't feel the need to look for invisible reasons anymore. Our family had a couple of weeks at the Burrow before we moved to Grimmauld Place, and I spent time with Luna then, finally making plans to meet up on the train. What you saw then was us trying to 'start over'."

"Is that how you met Corner?" Harry growled in a slightly jealous tone to lighten the mood a little bit.

"Yeah. 'Claws aren't as territorial as Gryffs, and so I spent a lot of time in their Common Room. I had hoped that being there, you know—proof that Luna wasn't alone—would help with the bullying, and I think it did, a little. They stopped pushing her around and being nasty to her, but they still hid her things and called her Loony."

"So when do you feel like things kind of went back to normal with her? With your friendship?"

"It was definitely the Autumn term of 6th year while you guys were gone. With just the three of us leading the DA, we all got a lot closer. I mean, before in 4th and 5th year she was a part of the DA with us, and with our smaller group and everything, but it wasn't personal to _me_. Overall, she was still pretty wary. But once it was just her and me and Neville, and with the stuff that was going on... I think she finally learned to trust me again. But then she was taken... and, well, you know the rest."

They both sat there quietly, and Harry thought back to that fateful year, to Luna's beautifully painted ceiling, to finding her in the Malfoy dungeons, to holding her hand during her father's funeral after the prisoners had been released. He thought of all of the years that followed as she fled Britain in grief, determined to prove her father right; of the steadying influence that Rolf had brought into her life; of how she blossomed after having the twins.

"So... Lily Luna Potter, then? Lilu for short?"

Ginny sat back and beamed at him, taking Harry's hand in hers so that they could gently rub the baby bump together . "Yeah. She's going to kick some serious arse with such great role models."

Harry grinned back at her, a soft light dancing in his eyes as he stared at their entwined hands. "Sure you don't want to name her Pigwidgeon? It's not too late, you know. _Ow!_ Dammit, woman!"

Ginny hit him with the scatter cushion a second time, her expression one of mock outrage. "I wasn't even twelve yet, you big git!" They play wrestled for a bit, laughing with a new joy now that they knew the name of their daughter. Eventually, Ginny got up to make a fresh pot of tea and Harry went back to disconnecting the Playstation. As they watched _The Fifth Element_, every time the name Leeloo was mentioned, they both smiled. When the movie was finally done and Harry was fishing the box of tissues out of the sofa cushions, Ginny turned to him, her huge smile and bright brown eyes unmarred by the big red blotches all over her face.

"Harry, is this what you felt like when you chose the names for the boys?"

He took her hand and gently kissed it. "Yup. Still do. Every time I think of them, luv. Every time."

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**AN:** There have been a lot of interesting theories bandied about in fanon on what makes Luna, Luna, and they've all influenced me to a point. Most recently, _**Heart's Home**_ by Aealket, an HP/HG/LL story, discussed the possibility of Luna's father dying from his imprisonment, which once it was pointed out, seemed highly likely to me, unfortunately.

Well, that's it! If you enjoyed this story and think that other people would enjoy it as well, please post a review. The higher the number of reviews, the more likely people are to take a punt and read. Thanks!


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